Havana, March 4 (RHC)-- Carlos Fernández de Cossío, the director of the United States Desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, has expressed his rejection of the US State Department decision to permanently reduce the staff of its embassy in Havana.

He said that Washington's decision "responds to political motivations and has nothing to do with the security of its officials in Havana."

Writing on Twitter, the official recalled that the absence of diplomatic staff in its Embassy in Havana “particularly affects consular services, prompting thousands of people to incur in additional expenses, as they have to travel to third countries to search for visas."

He insisted that "it is false that diplomatic staff of the Embassy is or has been at risk. It is false that any deliberate action against diplomats of the United States has been allowed in Cuba or that may have occurred in Cuba on the part of somebody. "

The U.S. State Department decision to make staff cuts at its embassy in Havana permanent was announced on Friday.